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Friday, February 22, 2013

A winner of TV talent show Latin American Idol, who was once loved by thousands in her native Dominican Republic, has been charged with drug smuggling after police found heroin stuffed in the heels of her platform shoes, authorities said on Thursday.

Martha Heredia was arrested late on Wednesday as she was about to board a plane to New York, said Frank Duran, the National Drug Control Agency's director for the city of Santiago.

Police reportedly found 2.9lb of heroin in the heels of three pairs of shoes packed in her suitcase. The drugs have an estimated street value of $1million.

Heredia was ordered to undergo X-ray tests to determine whether she had any drugs hidden inside her body but none were found.

Duran said police are interrogating Heredia to determine whether she was working as a mule for a drug-trafficking organization.

Prosecutor Luisa Liranzo said Heredia does not yet have an attorney. If found guilty, she could face more than ten years in prison.

The 22-year-old had become a star in the Dominican Republic after she won the final Latin American Idol contest in 2009.

The show, which ran for three years, was a Spanish-language version of the popular 'Idols' franchise.

On the night Heredia vied for the title, thousands of Dominicans gathered in public plazas to watch her sing on huge TV screens, and then-President Leonel Fernandez urged Dominicans to vote for her.

The country was paralyzed as Dominicans watched the show, prompting Fernandez to quip: 'It was said the country came under curfew without the need of a presidential decree.'

Miguel Vargas, president of the main opposition party at the time, had donated thousands of prepaid phone cards the night of the final contest so citizens could vote for their compatriot.

'Martha's tenacity and creative capacity are an example, and the least we can do is support her efforts,' Vargas said at the time.

Dozens of fans greeted Heredia when she returned to the Dominican Republic after her win, and Fernandez invited her to the National Palace. In February 2010, he gave her the National Youth Award.

'The politicians are lucky you're not running for president because you would beat them all,' he said at the time.

But Heredia, nicknamed 'La Baby' because of her penchant for calling people 'baby', disappeared shortly after all the fanfare, drawing speculations including that she was pregnant.

Then her name was back in the news for different reasons.

In December 2010, Heredia hit and killed a teenage Haitian boy with her car as he tried to cross a highway by foot. She was later ordered to pay his family some $275,000 as part of a lawsuit. The boy's relatives were angered that she did not meet with them to offer her condolences.